Cornerstones & Time Capsules

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Setting the Cornerstone, Building 21

President William L. McKnight, accompanied by chief engineer E. M. Johnson, supervised the installation of the cornerstone in October 1939.

The mason worked for the William Murphy and Son Construction Company. The date had been carved before the stone was set.

Etching the Cornerstone, Building 42

The Building 42 cornerstone contained a time capsule holding samples of 3M products, the 1949 company annual report, a copy of Megaphone magazine, a history of the company, newspaper accounts of the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman several days earlier, and an aerial photo of the Saint Paul Plant.

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Images

Building 42: Building 42, Mendota Street and Reaney Avenue, in 1952. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyFoundation Excavation: 3M breaks ground on Building 21. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyConstruction: Ongoing construction on Building 21. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyBuilding 21, 1944: Building 21, 900 Fauquier (now Bush) Avenue, pictured four years after completion. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietySetting the Cornerstone: President William L. McKnight, accompanied by chief engineer E. M. Johnson, supervised the installation of the cornerstone in October 1939. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyBuilding 42, 1952: Building 42, Mendota Street and Reaney Avenue, in 1952. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyEtching the Cornerstone: On November 3, 1950, President Richard Carlton inscribed the date on the cornerstone of Building 42 using a sandblast stencil, a 3M product that simplified stone carving techniques. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical SocietyCornerstone Time Capsule: The Building 42 cornerstone contained a time capsule holding samples of 3M products, the 1949 company annual report, a copy of Megaphone magazine, a history of the company, newspaper accounts of the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman several days earlier, and an aerial photo of the Saint Paul Plant. ~ Source: Minnesota Historical Society